India keen on deepening strategic ties with Russia: Pranab Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said India is desirous of deepening its strategic ties with Russia in a host of areas and subjects, PTI reported.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said India is
desirous of deepening its strategic ties with Russia in a host of areas and
subjects, PTI reported.

This was conveyed by Mukherjee to visiting Chairman of the
Russian State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, who called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan
here.

Interacting with Naryshkin and his delegation, the President
said India-Russia strategic partnership has a long and illustrious history.

"President Putin's visit to India in December, 2014 was
a landmark event. The understandings reached have helped to expand our
partnership in a number of new areas. India is fully committed to developing
and deepening the strategic partnership with Russia in diverse areas," he
was quoted as saying by a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson.

"Over the years, we have steadily developed the special
and privileged strategic partnership which reflects the breadth and depth of
cooperation between our two countries. We believe that economic dimension of
our bilateral relationship has huge untapped potential," he said.

According to Mukherjee, Indian and Russian Parliamentary
exchanges are an important element of bilateral relations.

"The visit to India of this high-level delegation
comprising chairs of different parliamentary committees will provide fresh
dynamism and depth to our parliamentary contacts," he said.

Naryshkin said the friendship between India and Russia has
grown over various decades.